Description of Prior Art
In recent years, particularly in consideration of the dangers associated with life threatening infectious diseases and pathogens, such as staphylococcus, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B, Salmonella, E oli Bacteria, and new strains of Tuberculosis as examples, continuous pressure is mounting to guard against transfer of disease from one person/patient to the next; very notably for example in the dentist's office. The principal object of the present invention is to provide those involved in various operative procedures, say in medicine, surgery, dentistry, laboratories, health care, and food services as examples, a conveniently usable prophylactic barrier or sheet which they may use to prevent the spread of infectious disease from one operation to another.
Nevertheless, various prior art references do pertain to several types of thin, pressure sensitive adhesive coated, sheet type structures, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,785,102 Ames, U.S. Pat. No. 4,107,811 Imsande, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,143,194 Wilhkane, all relate to adhesive sheets stacked in pad format for use on floors to collect dust and dirt from objects coming in contact such as shoes, and wheels, etc. It is noteworthy perhaps that each of these structures face the adhesive upward toward the object which may track dirt to the pad's upper surface and are not intended to be placed by hand on individual objects, so as to protectively shield the objects. They are also relatively large in size, for placing in entrance ways to clean rooms. U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,602 Dresser, relates to a peel away self adhering sheet intended to protectively cover butt plates of door hinges to protect them from paint spray or the like, while their associated doors or door frames are being painted. U.S. Pat. No. 3, 916,447 Thompson, relates to a soft, flexible, aqueous liquid-barrier web useful as a dinner napkin, bib, furniture cover, or the like. This barrier is intended to cling to soft cloth like materials not to hard objects. U.S. Pat. No. 4,559,671 Andrews, relates to a sterile lamp handle cover to provide a sterile surface for adjustment of a surgical lamp. U.S. Pat. No. 4,237,223 Metz, relates to a test method for determining the presence of microorganisms on a surface. Additionally foreign patent reference 3,132,637 Doring, relates to a continuous film coating with adhesive coating in selected zones to facilitate removal from objects. And foreign patent reference 0,249,461 Riedel, relates to a one pass coating operation method as a process for making tapes for use on mammalian skin. And finally, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,722,296 and 4,795,669 both to Bowskill relate to a disposable shield for the handle of a light used by dentists or doctors. A new shield is used for each patient, thereby preventing the spreading of contagious diseases. The Bowskill reference falls short of the objectives of the present invention as it does not provide for a user to obtain and use a new shield without touching, and therefore contaminating, the object contacting backside of the shield and the frontside surface of a following shield in the bulk format as well. This being the case it is only possible to use the Bowskill shield prior to, and in preparation for, an operation as opposed to during the operation as can be done with the present invention. Further the Bowskill shield requires that two hands be used in its attachment, it is limited as to the type, shape and orientation of objects which it is intended to protect, it does not provide for tactile and visual feedback for operator interaction with underlying objects, it is aimed at protecting specific objects as opposed to generally protecting a great variety of objects, it requires special receiving hardware with which to be used (a special handle), its reliability to protect against cross contamination is suspect, and it is cumbersome and time consuming to employ when compared to the present invention. Although each of these patents relate to general cleanliness, sanitation and/or sterile related matters, and most are also generally rectangular, thin, and sheetlike and with adhesive elements, all lack at least two significant advantages of the present invention, i.e. they do not provide a structure suitable for protective placement over any object with the use of but one free hand, and they do not provide for a visual and physically manipulative freedom of interaction between the user and the shielded object.